The present invention relates to a viscosifier, its uses, and methods for its manufacture.
Viscosifiers for thickening or gelling organic and aqueous liquids have many applications. These include lubricating oils, greases, and drilling fluids. Exemplary of viscosifiers used are: (1) linear polymers for improving the viscosity-index of lubricating oils; (2) fatty acid soaps of lithium, calcium, sodium, aluminum, and barium, and clays which are used in greases; and (3) clays such as bentonite in drilling fluids. In drilling fluids clays act as viscosifiers, and also act to suspend weighting materials such as barite in the fluid.
Many viscosifiers have significant limitations, including inadequate thermal stability, inability to be used both with aqueous and hydrocarbon based fluids, limited use with acidic and/or basic liquids, inadequate shear thinning properties, incompatibility with electrolytes, and inability to adequately suspend weighting materials such as barites.
Accordingly, for many applications there is a need for an improved viscosifier.